The invention relates to filtering equipment for dust or particle-laden gases, and more particularly to baghouse dust collectors. The invention relates specifically to top-inlet type baghouses, and includes improvements in construction for more efficient operation and maintenance of a top-inlet baghouse.
Various baghouse constructions are shown in prior U.S. patents. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,751,042, 3,177,636 and 3,837,151. These prior patents are directed to top-inlet baghouse construction, which has been shown by the present applicant to be advantageous for several reasons, but as yet has not found widespread acceptance, most baghouses still being of the bottom-inlet type.
Sylvan U.S. Pat. No. 2,751,042 referenced above shows a top-inlet baghouse with a partially flared drop-in upper thimble, with the filter bag attached to the outside of the thimble bottom. Jensen U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,636 shows a top drop-in thimble sealed to a tubesheet by an annular gasket, and also shows bag tensioning from the bottom end using temporary dead weight.
Typical bottom-inlet baghouses have had filter bags supported at their capped top ends by a tension spring, which was intended to keep the bag tensioned. The weight of filtered dust clinging to the bag's interior would cause the bag to sag near its connected bottom end, causing problems of wear and cleaning there. Also, bottom inlet bags would tend to cause a separation or gravity gradation wherein only fines would reach the upper areas of the bag, quickly clogging these upper areas, rendering filtration less effective and cleaning more difficult.
The three patents referenced above show some features having pertinence to the present invention, but do not provide for the efficiency of gas flow and the ease of installation and maintenance of the present invention.
None of the prior art has disclosed or suggested a combination of features which would lead to the many advantages of the baghouse structure of the present invention described below.